In a debate that raged on for more than 14 hours, at 4:05 a.m. Thursday, the Argentine Senate approved a same-sex marriage measure. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner indicated that she will sign it quickly in to law.

With the law being signed and recorded sometime in the next few days, Argentina will become the first Latin American country to legalize homosexual “marriage.” Argentina joins the ranks of nations, mostly western European, who have legalized same-sex unions. The list includes Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Canada, and South Africa.

One positive note, the new Argentine bill does not allow gay individuals to be married in Argentina unless they are full-time residents or Argentine citizens.

In spite of 60,000 people who opposed this bill marching to Congress earlier this week, the measure passed by a small margin of 33-27. United Families International and other pro-family, pro-traditional marriage groups worked to encourage citizens to attend these rallies and to make their opinions and concerns known to the Argentine government. The Catholic Church was instrumental in the efforts to oppose this bill. We acknowledge their efforts and thank them. Same-sex advocates are hailing this as a huge victory and the key to rolling out same-sex marriage throughout Latin America.

Washington D. C. Citizens denied the right to vote on marriage

In other marriage news, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, in a 5-4 decision, has denied citizens the right to vote on an initiative to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Thirty other states have had the opportunity to make their wishes known regarding marriage—each state retaining the traditional definition of marriage. Once again, judges think they know better than citizens. Is there any question why gay activists continue to run to the courts to steamroll this country into accepting same-sex marriage?